Casa di Papel’s use of Dalí mask unlawful?

The Dalí Foundation wants to ban the masks worn by the protagonists in the popular Netflix series La Casa de Papel. According to the foundation, the masks, which are based on the face of the Spanish artist, were used by the makers without permission.

The mask, with Dalí’s typical upward curling moustache and bulging eyes, together with a red overall are a symbol for the series La Casa de Papel, the best viewed non-English series on Netflix. Both the mask and the costume are worn in the series, in which robbers, led by ‘the professor’, attack the Royal Mint of Spain.

The question is how successful an injunction would be. The foundation itself cannot prohibit the use of portrait rights. To this end, Salvador Dalí’s next of kin must be involved in legal proceedings. But there is no question of surviving relatives, since Dalí had no children with his wife Gala and, as far as we know, not with other women either. Gala died in 1982.

In the Spanish newspaper El País, the maker of the series confirms that the mask is indeed based on Dalí, who died in 1989. According to him, two options were considered in advance: Don Quixote and Dalí. Permission to produce the Dalí mask has not been sought. “According to our legal team, this was not necessary because it is a caricature,” he said.